It was only supposed to be a small, raw fantasy film, but in the end a cult film came out: “Highlander”. When Russell Mulcahy’s film was released in 1986, the reviews were rather bad, especially the simple story was criticized. And admittedly, on paper, the tale of a race of immortals fighting each other over the centuries until only one is left doesn’t read terribly exciting either. The far too low budget also meant that Russell Mulcahy and his team had to cut corners and improvise at every turn, giving “Highlander” the raw, often uncouth B-movie look that has since become part of the myth.
“Highlander: There Can Only Be One” became mainstream in the mid ’80s set in the breathtakingly beautiful Scottish Highlands and the filthy streets of New York, worlds connected by now-legendary dissolves.
Sometimes you see leading actor Christopher Lambert as a spectator at a wrestling match in the present, and the images of the fight transport him to a battle in Scotland in the Middle Ages. Another time, the camera pans up an aquarium in a New York apartment and when it comes to the surface, you emerge from a Scottish lake.
The plot jumps back and forth between these two worlds, telling at the same time how the highlander Connor MacLeod learns about his powers, how he is introduced to the mysteries of immortality by a Spanish-Egyptian with the beautiful name Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Sean Connery), and how the long-awaited final duel of the last immortals takes place in the present.
Newcomer Christopher Lambert learned English especially for this film, was not a good actor, but had enormous charisma, was therefore the ideal cast for a film full of absurd twists and brilliant finishes. Mulcahy used a fast-paced style full of tracking shots, unusual shots and lots of smoke and neon lightswhich was to become style-defining for the cinema of the 80s, which was influenced by the music video.
And that is probably one of the reasons for the long-lasting success of “Highlander”, which has long since achieved cult status and is now considered one of the best fantasy films of all time: that it reflects the time of its creation like few other films.
This applies not least to one of the most distinctive elements of “Highlander”: the music of Queen. The rockers weren’t the producers’ first choice: Actually, the hard rockers from Marillion were supposed to contribute the songs, but they didn’t have time. And so Queen came into playwho were at the height of their fame shortly after their legendary appearance on Live Aid.
A rough cut of the film inspired the band to songs like “Who Wants To Live Forever”, “A Kind Of Magic” and “Princes Of The Universe”, which was finally used as the title song. In the video you have the special pleasure of seeing Freddie Mercury and Christopher Lambert together, who duel with sword or Mercury’s typical short microphone stand.
While “Highlander” is one of many career highlights for Queen and Sean Connery, Russell Mulcahy would still make a number of films, but no more notable ones. And Christopher Lambert will probably be remembered forever as the melancholic “Highlander”.
But there are certainly worse things for an actor than at least having played in a film that became a cult film and can now be seen again in the cinema 35 years later in the most beautiful 4K restoration. Then “Highlander” is actually coming back to German cinemas for one day on September 6, 2022.
You can find more about the “Best of Cinema” event series on the Best of Cinema website. As the official media partner, DashFUN will also keep you up to date on the upcoming theatrical releases of the series, which brings another great classic back to cinemas every month.
